Pokémon Ranger Guardian Signs: What if?
by musiclover99
Summary: The entire Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs game, from beginning to end. Except with one major change: Ben never leaves. He arrived at the beginning, and he's stying til the end. All the way through with Summer. Minor/possible future Obliviashipping!
1. A Mystery Pokémon, Rangers, and Washouts

_**Pokémon's too epic for me to own. Evah. **_

_**Okay, so I was really bored, and decided: Why not do a "what if" fic? So this is a what if Summer and Ben had never separated? Cause there's gonna be a bigger difference than you think. I can't say more, spoilers, but I'll try to add one chapter of this after every chapter of my other one, which is a basic play by play of the game, with some extras. Oh, and if you're a fan of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians, please look up the account BeginningTheREVOLUTION, and decide in the poll if you have read our stories or not. Thanks, now on with the story!  
><strong>_

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><p><em>Obliva region, high in the sky<em>

The Drifloon were floating happily, the occasional Chatot or Togekiss flying peacefully. Some Pidgey were there, nice and happy too. Until . . .

"La!"

A rather big, red pokémon flew by suddenly, causing the Pidgey to panic and disperse. Some green orb things shot at it, and two people on flying scooters, or something, showed up behind it.

"Whee ha!" the man on the left said.

"Just give it up already!" the woman beside him yelled. "Do you really think you can get away?"

"You just don't know when to give up!"

Unbeknownst to them, there was someone—or rather, _two_ someone's—behind, following silently on two Staraptor.

"You ready partner?" the girl asked to the boy on her right.

"Oh, bring it on," he replied confidently. "Let's make an entrance."

"It's showtime."

The boy flew up farther, gaining speed. When he was almost just two feet behind them, the two people felt the wind, and turned around in shock.

"Who are _you_, squirt?" the woman asked gruffly.

"Red goggles, a yellow scarf . . ." the man mumbled, thinking. The woman's eyes widened.

"And a Capture Styler!"

"You're a . . . Pokémon Ranger!"

"Ha ha, that'd be me people!" the boy said rather cockily. "My name's Pokémon Ranger Ben, here to protect all people and Pokémon!"

Then, out of nowhere and without warning, a couple Pidgey started flying all around.

"Your adversaries are using Pokémon to attack. Please capture the Pokémon in order to calm it down," Voice Nav. beeped.

Ben rolled his eyes, and said, "Yeah, yeah, I'm on it." The Pidgey were getting closer and closer, so Ben got his Capture Styler ready.

"Capture on!" he yelled, taking aim. He fired the Capture Disk, the regular blue-ish line trailing behind it. A sorta glowing shard appeared from the Capture Styler, which allowed him to control the disk easily. He was concentrating hard, but he could still hear his partner mutter over the roaring wind, "That show off. Drama queen!"

He wanted to retort, but then he realized something.

"Capture complete!" The disk went back in.

"Feh!" the man yelled, getting annoyed, while looking at the red Pokémon flying away. "Not only was our Pidgey captured, our target got away! It's hard to believe someone could pull off a midair capture like that. You're something else!"

"Oblivia's very peaceful. We don't need someone like you," the woman beside him sneered.

"Here's how we get rid of unnecessary trash: With a plasma cannon!"

Ben started a bit at the sudden green glow that was coming from the odd scooters, but dodged all of them, quickly maneuvering his partner Pokémon, Staraptor.

"That was unfair!" Ben glared. "Seriously, how would _you_ like it if someone blasted you with that plasma junk!"

"How'd the Ranger manage to dodge all my attacks? . . ." the man said questioningly, ignoring Ben's fierce glare.

"You _are_ good . . ." the woman admitted. "But let's see if you can handle our double-team attack!"

The same thing as before happened, but instead with twice the green orbs than before.

"Oh no!" the man sweatdropped. "My plasma cannon's outta battery!"

"Mine to! Scaring our target may not have been the best idea . . ." the woman railed off. "I guess we'll just have to ram 'em!"

The two people backed up, prepared to do knock the Ranger out of the sky, until they heard another voice, this time female.

"Are you sure you wanna do that? Now you have to deal with two Rangers!"

The female Ranger flew forward, and looked over at her partner.

"It is just _so _comforting to see my partner is just _excellent_ at handling the situation," she said drily, rolling her eyes.

"Like you would do any better!"

"Psh, of course I would! This is why I wanted to go first!"

"Uh, can we handle this later, Summer?" Ben asked. "Since there _are _two people who were trying to knock me out of the sky and like, fall to my doom."

Summer waved her hand and said, "Oh yeah, sure, be my guest," as if it was a normal, every-day thing.

Ben turned back to the people.

"So, you were saying?"

"Ah man! There was more than one!" the man said, after a moment of confusion.

"Come on!" the woman said, getting really annoyed and panicked. "How about this: let's see you try to capture even _more_ Pokémon, all by yourself!"

"I got this one," Summer said to Ben. "Since _you_ had all the fun a couple minutes ago."

She pointed the Styler, and, "Capture on!"

The disk came out, and, much similar to Ben's, a shard came out from the Styler too. She carefully captured the few Drifloon and Chatot there were, then soon, "Capture complete!"

"What's with all the Rangers making such good midair captures!" the man yelled.

"The plasma cannons aren't working! Rangers keep popping up! We've run out of Pokémon too! I hate to say this, but I guess we'll have to retreat!"

They turned around to leave, but a second before they could, a voice piped up, "Wait!"

The two stopped in their tracks, and the Rangers started, looking around for the mysterious voice.

"There's one more on our side now!" A blonde-haired man with red eyes and bangs came up on another scooter, except this time it was red, along with most of what he was wearing.

"Our leader!" the man said happily. "They're Pokémon Rangers!"

"I can see that," the 'leader' said coolly, rolling his eyes. "This is the first time I've seen flying Rangers though. Two aerial Ranger brats, putting on airs with their bright red goggles and stupid yellow scarves. What a joke!"

Ben's face flushed a bit, and he retorted, "Who's the joke here? _You're_ the leader of a team that can't even handle a couple of 'brats'!"

"I hate to admit it, but he actually has a good point," Summer muttered. "For once."

The leader raised an eyebrow, not amused, then narrowed his eyes.

"You there . . . do you know the consequences for mouthing off like that? I have just the sport for a tough-talking brat like you. Sky-diving . . . without a parachute!" The sound of the plasma cannon powering up was heard. "Take that!"

Ben and Summer realized what was going to happen, a second after they saw it. By then, it was too late, but even so, Summer yelled, "Duck!"

That saved their lives, practically, but they still got hit a little bit on the top, so the Staraptor weren't affected. They got pushed off, and were falling into the open sea.

When the air cleared up, the blonde haired man said, "That's how you take care of two Rangers. Good riddance to both of 'em."

"You showed them, leader!" the man said.

"That was excellent firing!"

While the two goons were praising the shot their leader made, Ben and Summer were hurtling through the clouds, the wind blowing in their faces.

"Summer!" Ben yelled over to her. "Put your goggles on and get out the Aqua-Lungs!"

"One step ahead of ya there, Ben!"

The two Rangers braced themselves for impact, and they both landed (painfully) into the sea. They checked to make sure nothing was broken, and then looked around.

"Voice Nav.," Ben said, looking at his Capture Styler. His voice was harder to hear, since they were in water, but it was easy to distinguish what he was saying. "Location?"

Before it could reply, Summer's own Voice Nav. said, "The Capture Styler has come off! Urgent! Reattach the Capture Styler! The Capture Styler has come off! Urgent! Reattach the Capt . . . ure . . . Sty . . . . ler . . . "

Summer's eyes widened, and said, "Ben! Help me look around, and don't just stan . . . swim there, floating like a Magikarp!"

They both dived a bit deeper, looking around to see anything that looked familiar.

"There!" Ben yelled suddenly. Summer looked at the direction he was pointing at, and saw her Styler was sinking down, lower and lower.

"Yes!" she yelled as she swam down. "Thank Arceus for this! Prof. Hastings might've _killed_ me if I . . . " She trailed off, because when she got to where her Styler was, a Mantyke had taken it.

"No!" she yelled despairingly. She turned towards Ben.

"Come on! You're gonna help me capture that Mantyke!"

"Er, right!"

In about two minutes, Summer and Ben had successfully caught up with they speedy Mantyke, and it dropped the Styler onto a slab of concrete. It then swam away, and Summer swam down and reattached her Styler.

"Yes!" she said triumphantly. "My Styler's back!"

"I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not," Ben said mockingly. "I mean, you really shouldn't have lost it in the first place . . ."

"Puh-lease! Remember the time in Ranger school, you spilled juice over your school styler? You had to wait for five days for a new one, which meant you couldn't practice any captures like the rest of us! _Or_ target clears!"

Ben blushed a bit at the reminder, but then quickly replied, "Yeah? Well what about _you_? _You're_ the one who panicked at the sight of a Ghastly!"

"Ghost Pokémon are freaky!" she said defensively, while blushing a bit at the memory. It took _days_ for it to die down, since she was the tomboy tough girl of the school. "I mean, they're cool, but when they just . . . _pop up_ like that outta _nowhere_—"

Their banter could've gone on all day, but Ben's Voice Nav. cut in.

"Danger! Danger! Massive object approaching!"

"Danger! Danger!" Summer's own Voice Nav. chimed in. "Extremely strong current! The current i . . s . . . . zzz zzz zzz . . . "

Her Voice Nav. broke down, and Ben's did too.

"Well that's just _perfect_, isn't it?" he said, throwing his hands up (if he could underwater). "What were they talking about?"

Ben had turned away from Summer, so he was surprised to turn back around to her shocked expression.

"Um, Summer?" he said warily, all trace of playfulness gone. "What's wrong?"

"No time! Run! Er—swim!" she yelled, waterlogged. She swam in the opposite direction, sweatdropping, while leaving a puzzled Ben.

"Huh? What's wrong . . ." He trailed off because he too, saw what was heading their direction.

"Holy Arceus!" he yelled in shock, swimming away as well. Too late. Ben got caught in current the large ship was creating, and Summer had made the mistake of looking back.

"Ben!" she yelled. Unfortunately, she stopped swimming as well, so when she realized had stopped at all, it was too late, and she got caught as well. She fell back.

_Above land, on the top of said ship_

"Attention Z.Z. Flyer Squad! Our target is Dolce Island! Commence attack now!" A bunch of men and women riding more scooter things came out, and the one in front, presumably the one in charge, started talking.

"Alright Pinchers, let's go! Dolce Island is uninhabited. We can do whatever we want, and no one's here to see!" He then flew off, his team following behind him.

_Dolce Island_

A bunch of pokémon, Pichu, Bulbasour, Sunkern, and Marill were happily listening to one particular Pichu in the middle, playing the ukulele. It was nice and peaceful, until the Pichu saw something . . . the pinchers, as the leader called them. He warned the other Pokémon, and they all went into hiding.

Three pinchers showed up in that same spot. One said, "You two, split up! Capture them!"

"Roger!"

Then immediately, all the pinchers used some sort of controller in their gloves. They gave off a purplish circle thing. One pincher (possibly the leader again) was saying, "Still, it's amazing that in such a short time, we were able to pinch this many Pokémon. It's all thanks to these new Control gauntlets they gave us. We couldn't find the Pokémon we were looking for. But that also means that Pokémon isn't here, which is valuable information, too. Let's return to base and have our leader tell us what a good job we've done! Z.Z. Flyer Squad, retreat!"

Then they all flew off with all the Pokémon, except for the one Pichu with the ukulele, who was staring at those people flying off with it's friends.

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><p><em><strong>Yes, yes, I know the last part after the words "She fell back" were the exact same as the other one, but there really is nothing to change on that part, since it has nothing to do with our two favorite Rangers here. Well, thanks for reading, and unfortunately I'm one of those updaters who take a while, sadly. I'll try my best (you know, reviews help a LOT). Sorry if this sucks, I was in a bit of a hurry. Thanks for reading, and I'll try to update ASAP!<strong>_


	2. Banters, Ukuleles, and an Old Man

_**Banters, Ukuleles, and an Old Man  
>A Pokémon Ranger story<br>**__**©-Gamefreak and the Pokémon company  
><strong>__**Written and edited by: Max/musiclover99  
><strong>__**PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING LONG RANT/AN!**_

_**Okay, so I'm pretty sure I won't be able to update that fast, even though I'm already on break ever since Thursday. It's just . . . I'm not used to Pokémon fics yet. I mean, my other ones are about the book series, Percy Jackson (WHOOO!), and it took me a while to get used to OTHER authors and not the actual one. Same here, except not a book and not an author. Some parts will be the same as my other fic, and I still gotta work on some "character development". The beginning of this chapter is the exact same as my other, but please bare with me, again, gotta get used to it, plus, this is a GAME and an AU fic, meaning I'm able to change whatever I want, but as long as it's actually able to happen. So yes, there will be differences, plenty of similarities, etc. etc. Also, everything that's similar from my other story, Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs, I edited a bit for more humor or something like that, so if you can read that . . . yeah . . . thanks!**_

_**Alright, enough of my usual rambling, ON WITH THE ACTUALLY STORY THAT I SHOULD REALLY WORK ON THE PLOT AND STUFF EVEN THOU—I'm gonna start again, just . . . yeah. **_

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><p>Everything was calm, and peaceful on the small (and uninhabited of humans) island that is Dolce Island.<p>

"Ugh! Ptt! Pff! Oh Arceus, that tastes _nasty_!"

Until Ben woke up, of course.

He woke up on the shoreline, in total confusion, facedown in the sand. Which means he received a nice mouthful of sand for . . . breakfast? Well, judging by the sun, it's probably some time around nine or ten in the morning.

"That tastes worse than Summer's attempt at cooking in Home Ec. That's pretty hard to beat," he mumbled, smirking a tiny bit at the memory. "I still don't know why she chose that for Ranger's school elective . . ." The smirk fell off his face as he realized he couldn't see Summer.

"Summer! Summer, where are you?"

"Ugh . . ." someone behind him groaned. Ben started, then turned around to see Summer kneeling in the sand, shaking her head and spitting out some sand too.

"Pff, next time, go a little easy on the sand part in sandwich." She grimaced, then said, "Oh Arceus, your sense of humor is rubbing off on me! It burns!"

"Oh, hardy har har," Ben said wryly. "That was so funny, I forgot to laugh."

"You forgot your brain. Oh wait—you didn't have one in the first place!"

"Uh huh, sure, yuck it up. Hypocrite."

"I am not!"

Then Ben suddenly said, "Remember our similar conversation we had when we were receiving our mission?"

Summer thought for a second, then said, "Yeah . . . wait, _how_ is this similar to that conversation at all?"

"Well, we were both fighting about something."

"Aren't we always?"

There was a moment of silence, before Ben conceded, "Touché. So what now?"

Summer pretended to think for a minute, before saying dryly, "How about we find a way to get off this island and _finish our mission_!"

Ben rolled his eyes, and said, "You see what I mean about how we're always fighting? Seriously, at the Ranger Union . . ."

_About two days ago, at the Ranger Union in Almia_

"Young Pokémon Rangers. I've heard so much about you. I'm Prof. Hastings, the Ranger Union's Chief of Technology. Are you familiar with my work?" He was met with silence (or at least, he couldn't hear them speaking, so he assumed it was silence).

"Ugh, why do we have to do this?" Ben muttered sleepily. "It's so early!"

"Shut it, you idiot," she chided. "I wanna sleep too, ever thought of that?

"No need to answer that." he continued, oblivious to their banter. "I called you both because I have an extraordinary Mission for you two."

"An extraordinary mission?" Ben asked.

"What are you, a Chatot?" Then Summer rolled her eyes and muttered, "Like the world needs another crisis. Kate barely saved us from the last one!**[*]**"

Prof. Hastings still looked like he didn't hear this, and went on, pacing to the left.

"I am sure you have heard of this. There is an awful group of people who control Pokémon and take them from their homes."

Ben and Summer's eyes widened a bit, and Ben asked, "Who'd do such a thing?"

Then Summer mumbled, "When I see one of them, I am gonna _kick their a_—"

"Language!" Ben mock scolded.

" . . . . I was going to say aftershave. And like _you're_ any better!"

"They are called . . ." Prof. Hastings paused there, looking into the left, before facing the two Rangers (who immediately stopped talking) and said dramatically, "Pokémon Pinchers!"

He then started to walk to the right.

"Up until recently, the members worked independently, but now these Pokémon Pinchers are starting to become a unified outfit. The—"

"I'm guessing you don't mean the spring collection by that," Ben interrupted.

Summer slapped him upside the back of his head, and hissed, "Idiot!"

"Of course not!" Prof. Hastings huffed. "Now, as I was saying, the question is why."

Here, he turned to face the Rangers again.

"In any case, they're probably up to no good. I want you two to head for the Oblivia region, investigate their plans, and, if necessary, stop them."

Ben and Summer were about to reply, before hearing a voice shout, "Whoa, wait! Wait a minute!"

The two Rangers started, and turned around to see a rather stocky man run towards them.

"If you need an explanation of the Oblivia region, leave it to me! I'm Murph, and I'm in charge of PR here at the Union!" he introduced

"Murph!" Prof. Hastings fumed, turning to face him. "I will take care of the explanation, thank you very much!

Murph sweatdropped, and pleaded, "Please Prof. Hastings! Don't take away any of my few remaining responsibilities!"

"I have a feeling these two are _really _old friends," Ben muttered to Summer. She shot him a look, and muttered back, "Noooo, you think?"

". . . well then," Murph started. "Let me give you a brief explanation of the Oblivia region. In a sense, it is a place the rest of the world has forgotten about. It's a carefree and peaceful paradise!"

"So we're going on vacation, not a mission?" Ben asked hopefully. "I think we deserve it!"

"You don't think at all." Guess who said that?

"You may be right that it is a peaceful paradise," Prof. Hastings admitted. "That is, however, exactly what these Pinchers may be after. The area is so peaceful that we only have on Area Ranger stationed there.

"This is the Oblivia region's motto: 'Oblivia, Islands of Ancient Ruins and Legends'. Sounds like adventure, doesn't it?" Murph added.

There was a pause, before Prof. Hastings continued.

"Indeed. Recently, many archeology buffs have been visiting these islands. If I ever have the time, I would definitely like to visit, but . . ." He trailed off with a hint of longing. After a second, he turned to the Rangers again, who were starting to have their own conversation.

"I say that a Palkia is bigger than a Dialga!"

"And _I'm _saying that Dialga should be bigger!"

"Why? Palkia—"

"Now listen you two," Prof. Hastings said. The two Rangers stopped their argument, sweatdropped, then turned to face him. "It may be peaceful, but don't let your guard down."

"Now is the second part of my explanation of the Oblivia region," Murph said. "There are nine parts in all, so make yourselves comfortable, okay?"

Prof. Hastings starting fuming again, and stated, "That's enough! If you are that desperate for work, I'll think of something for you to do. At any rate, this Mission is urgent."

He calmed down, and Murph took this as an opportunity to say, "If you're going to give me a job, please give me something fun, okay?"

"Wow. Someone almost as annoying as you," Summer said in fake shock. "I thought that was physically impossible!"

"Psh, no one bests me in annoying someone. Especially if that someone is _you_." Here, Ben ruffled Summer's hair while Mulch and Prof. Hastings had their backs turned. Summer pushed him away and scowled.

Prof. Hastings sighed, and rubbed his temples. He turned back to face the Rangers, who looked as if they didn't do anything at all just then.

"That's something you'll just need to look forward to," Prof. Hastings interrupted the Rangers' discussion. They turned to face him again.

"Our discussion has gone slightly off track, my young Rangers."

"Slightly?" Ben questioned rhetorically.

"Depart immediately for the Oblivia region," Prof. Hastings continued. "Cooperate with Pokémon and foil the Pokémon Pincher's plans. Defend peace and nature for everyone."

"Yes sir!" Ben mock saluted, but if Prof. Hastings noticed anything at all, he didn't say anything.

"We'll get right on it!" Summer added. Then the two Rangers proceeded to do their Ranger pose.

"Wait," Summer said suddenly. "Why do we do Ranger poses anyway? I mean really, what's the point?"

Ben shrugged and said, "I dunno. It looks cool?"

Summer rolled her eyes, but after a couple seconds, said, "True enough. Especially mine."

"No way, mine's cooler!"

"Puh-lease!"

"You just do a stupid turn! _I_ do a cool backflip!"

"A wannabe _poser_ backflip!"

"Enough!" Prof. Hastings fumed. "Depart immediately!"

Both Rangers sweatdropped and Ben said, "Right! Sorry!"

"Sure you are," his partner muttered. He turned to face her.

"So, we're off for the islands of Oblivia!" he stated.

"No, really!"

_Now_

"Ah, memories." Ben wiped away a fake tear. "So beautiful."

Summer rolled her eyes, and said, "Right. Totally. But whatever, can we make a plan!"

Ben sweatdropped a bit, and said, "Err, right. Voice Nav., where are we?"

After a moment's pause, it beeped out, "Current location . . . X Coordinate 055665 Y Coordinate 355671. Seawater has penetrated the Styler's Voice Nav. circuit. Cur . . . bzzz . . . zz . . . "

"Hello? Hello?" Ben tapped the screen a bit, then said, "Dang it! My Voice Nav.'s down for the count. You?"

"Of course, I have to do everything around here," Summer said dramatically. "Alright then, Voice Nav., location?"

Hers did the exact same thing, except it fizzled out faster. Summer sweatdropped, while Ben crossed his arms, tapped his foot, and shook his head.

"Well? I'm _waiting_," he said, dragging out the word 'waiting'.

"Eh heh . . ." she said somewhat sheepishly, scratching the back of her neck. "So what now?"

"I don't know . . . but something's missing here," Ben said thoughtfully. "It's so . . . quiet. Too quiet."

"Oh Arceus, are you in some sort of spy movie now?"

Ben ignored her, then tried his Voice Nav. again.

"Voice Nav., location?"

After a few beeps, it miraculously said, "This is Dolce Island in the Oblivia region . . . Bzzzzz . . . ." before it died again.

"Ugh!" Ben said. "Let's see . . . "After pressing a few buttons, Summer got impatient and did the same to hers.

"Recovering Voice Nav. program," Summer's Styler beeped.

"Ha!"

Ben scowled. "Whatever, mine was about to do the same."

"Sure it was."

"Recovering Voice Nav. program," her Styler continued. "Please verify you own this Styler by entering your name."

"We should file a complaint to Prof. Hastings about this," Ben stated.

"Pardon?" Summer's Styler said.

"Shush it!" she hissed. Then spoke louder, and said, "Pokémon Ranger Summer Cyrilla."

"zzzz . . . Summer Cyrilla correct? Your name has been verified. Recovery is almost complete."

Ben snickered. "Cyrilla. Never gonna get tired of that."

"Hey, did I get to pick my name? No. Whatever, just do the same to your Styler."

"Fine, fine."

Ben did the same as Summer, except he obviously said his name instead of hers.

"Hartley's not much better."

"Shut up! At least my last name's not a flower!"

"Whatever! Moving on, let's at least contact the Union."

"Sure." Ben held out his wrist and said, "Alright, Voice Nav., contact the Pokémon Ranger Union."

After a few seconds, it said, "Zzzz . . . the Styler's communication functions cannot be recovered. Communication with anyone is currently impossible."

Ben threw his hands up in frustration, and ran a hand through his hair.

"Fan-freaking-tastic. What now?"

Before Summer could reply, her own Voice Nav. said, "Current location . . . X Coordinate 055665 Y Coordinate 355671. You are currently on Dolce Island in the Oblivia region."

"Yes, yes, we got that now—"

"According to the data about this area: Dolce Island is uninhabited."

"Well, that explains why it's so quiet," Ben said.

"The nearest inhabited island is Renbow Island, which is north of Dolce Island, across a narrow strait."

"North?" Summer asked, confused. "There's nothing here but trees! A bush here, a bush there, some flowers—"

"Think one of them is a cyrilla?"

Summer flushed a bit, and said, "Shut. Up. Unless you wanna complete the rest of this mission missing an arm, I suggest you _drop it_."

Ben gulped and sweatdropped. "Y-yes ma'am."

"Good. Now, let's look around for a path or something like that."

"Right."

After about five minutes, Ben called over, "Look at this!"

Summer ran over, and when Ben pushed away a few branches (while managing to get hit in the eye. "Smooooth." "Shut it."), there was a path. A very small path, but still manageable.

"Not bad," Summer allowed. "Savor it while it lasts, that's the closest thing to a compliment you'll get out of me."

"Yeah, yeah," Ben waved off, rolling his eyes but still smiling a bit. Let's just go, shall we?" he said, holding out an arm. Summer rolled her eyes, but smiled and mockingly linked her arm with his.

"We shall."

After a few minutes of walking, Summer noticed another thing that was missing. There was no—

"Pokémon," she said, unlinking her arm from Ben's. "That's it."

Ben blinked, and asked, "What?"

"That's what's missing. There's no Pokémon right now. Meaning, we can't capture a Staraptor or something."

"Speaking of which, where's my partner?"

This time, Summer blinked, and replied slowly, "I . . . don't know."

"Dang it! As if it couldn't get any worse, now my partner's missing? Wonderful, really."

Before she could say something, there was a small cry of, "Pichu!"

Both Rangers jumped a bit, and Ben asked, "What was that?" Summer rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, I don't know! Maybe it was a . . . gasp, Pichu!"

"You know what I mean! Where'd it come from? I thought there was no Pokémon here!"

"How should I know? Just keep walking, we might see it."

After a few moments, in which they passed by an occasional Mareep or Teddiursa ("See, there _is _Pokémon around here." "You only know that because we passed by some Pokémon, Summer"), a Pichu with something on it's back was walking on the path.

"Pichuu . . . " it said worriedly, pacing around. "Pichuu . . ." After walking for a bit, it noticed the two Rangers behind it, and turned from worried to fuming in a matter of seconds.

"Pichu!"

"Why's it so angry?" Ben asked, his eyebrows furrowing a bit.

"How should I know?" Summer then looked at the Pichu and spoke in a soft voice, "It's okay, we won't hurt you!"

It ignored her, and tried to attack, but Summer moved out of the way.

"Well, I guess I'll have to catch it then . . ." she mumbled. "Capture on!"

The Capture Disk shot out and started surrounding the confused Pichu, but soon it kept using thundershock. After a few seconds, "Capture complete!"

The disk went back into her Styler. Pichu took the thing on it's back—a ukulele—and sorta . . . played it. He used a very small and light thundershock, which made a small _twang_ sound.

"Aw," she said, bending down. "Cute."

"Yeah, yeah, adorable, but save that for later, we gotta get going, remember?" Ben said.

"Er, right."

"Pichu!" a voice from the left said. "You're okay!" Summer, startled, jumped a bit, which made her fall back.

"Oof!" She stood up again and a rather old man came running, very fast for an old guy.

"Pichuu," it said, walking over to him.

"Where are your other Pichu friends?" he asked, a confused expression on his face.

"Pichuu . . . ." it said sadly, looking down in disappointment.

"Apparently they know each other," Ben said.

"Way to state the obvious, dude."

"Don't know, huh?" the old man said, still not noticing Summer and Ben. "Who were those folks who showed up on those UFO-lookin' things anyhow? I was far away and couldn't see well . . . but what were they doin' chasin' Pokémon 'round anyways?"

Ben fake-coughed, so the old man looked up so fast, his neck cracked just a bit. But he took no heed about that.

"Well, what do we have here? Two Pokémon Rangers!" he said, not noticing how stiff Summer was standing or how Ben was sweatdropping from the close inspection.

"I've never seen ya two 'round these parts. What's yer names?"

"Uh, my name's Ben Hartley, sir." He ribbed Summer.

"Oh, er, um, I . . . my name is . . ." she stuttered. Ben rolled his eyes and said, "Summer, her name's Summer." Then he muttered, lower so the old man couldn't hear, "When will you learn to talk to people besides people you know, kids, and the bad guys?"

"When Sealeo flies," she deadpanned.

"I'm still surprised that you can talk to the _bad guys _properly. Hello!"

"I'm Booker, the master shipbuilder from Renbow Island across the way," the old man, Booker, introduced. Ben and Summer got a hopeful look on their faces.

"Pichu!" Pichu (obviously) added.

"This island doesn't have many places higher than this, so if there was a tidal wave or somethin', there wouldn't be any place to run," Booker explained. "So to make sure I'm ready, I'm always buildin' small boats. They're life rafts for Pokémon that can't swim or fly."

Pichu then got out it's ukulele and "played" it a bit.

"Pichu! Pichu!" it said, walking a bit to Summer.

Booker noticed this, and said, "Seems Ukulele Pichu's taken a bit of a shine on ya, Summer!"

Summer blinked, and looked down at Pichu's cute little face.

"Ukulele . . . Pichu?" she asked quietly.

"Pichu!" it chirped happily at its nickname.

"I came up with the nickname 'Ukulele Pichu'. Looks great on Pichu, eh? This little Pichu's smile always makes me feel better when I'm worn out from a hard day of shipbuilding. So I threw together a ukulele with leftover wood. It can't really play, but every time electricity runs through it, the ukulele—"

"Makes a little twang," Ben finished. "It's so—dare I say it?—cute! . . . I think I just lost a bit of manliness."

"How could you lose something you never had?" Summer asked, turning to face him. Ben just replied by sticking his tongue out.

"It's a great toy for Pichu," Booker concluded.

Pichu played it a bit again. "Pichuu!"

Booker looked like he got an idea, and asked, "By the by, have any of ya seen a UFO?"

Both Ben and Summer sweatdropped, and Ben said, "A . . . UF . . . O?"

"When I was strollin' 'long the beach of Renbow Island," Booker started, "I saw UFOs flyin' above Dolce Island. I was worried about the Pokémon so I hurried over to my boat. When I got here, a suspicious group was chasin' 'round the Pokémon. Then, before I could even holler, they disappeared into the sky on their UFOs. Were they aliens?"

The two Rangers sweatdropped a bit more, but before Ben could say something along the lines of, "_Aliens don't exist,_" Booker continued, "This Pichu was fine, but there's no sign of its Pichu pals or any other Pokémon friends. They probably hid themselves somewhere," Booker guessed.

"Well, maybe," Ben said half-heartedly, sharing a quick look with Summer. "By the way, are you able to take us to Renbow Island?"

"I was just 'bout to offer!" Booker turned, facing away from the Rangers. "To get to my boat, go north, then east. It's on a pier on the beach. Let's head that way first! Now Pichu. Why don't you let your hidin' friends know that those bad folks are gone. You can use the sound from your ukulele to let them know!"

Pichu looked a little more hopeful at the idea, then jumped into the bushes, yelling, "Pichu! Pichu!"

"Say hello to your friends!" Booker called after him.

"Um, right then," Ben said. "Let's go then! C'mon, Summer, Booker."

After a few slightly awkward moments of walking in silence (something to which Booker was oblivious to), there was a log in front of them, blocking their path.

"Hm . . ." Summer said thoughtfully. She turned to Ben. "We need to get a Pokémon for a Target Clear."

"Obviously," Ben replied, rolling his eyes a little. "It's not like it'll just magically grow legs and walk away. Alright, I'm gonna go find a Pokémon, you stay with Booker."

"What! Wait . . .!" But, of course, Ben had already gone. Summer sighed, and stood there awkwardly, looking around.

While Summer and Booker (more Booker, though) were talking just a bit, Ben was looking around for a Pokémon in a place where "aliens" had taken them all. Or at least, most of them. Piece of cake, right?

"Let's see . . . " Ben said to himself. "What Pokémon is there that can cut that log?" Then, as if on cue, a Bulbasaur walked by, and Ben did the usual of catching it.

He ran back to where Summer and Booker were, just in time to hear Summer say, "We're just friends," with a slight blush on her face (that Ben, of course, didn't notice). Huh. No stutter. Maybe she got used to him then.

"Who's just friends?" Ben asked. Summer jumped and blushed a bit again (barely able to see it). Ben, of course, didn't notice this _again_ and just said, "Tell me later, right now, let's get ridda this log."

He looked at the Bulbasaur and asked, "Bulbasaur, can you cut up that log for me?"

"Bulba-saur!" it said, while using razor leaf. In a mater of seconds, the log turned into little pieces, so Ben and Summer pushed them away.

"Thanks, Bulbasaur!" he said as it went off. "Alright then, let's continue!"

While walking along the path, Ben asked Summer, "So, you not as quiet around him anymore?"

She nodded slowly after another second. "Yeah, I think so. Mostly. Still a bit awkward talking to him."

"Psh, I think it's awkward for most people to talk to him, even if they don't have a fear— or whatever it is you have—of talking to people."

"It's not a fear!"

"You just keep telling yourself that."

Suddenly, Booker stopped, so Summer asked, "What is it?

Booker pointed off a cliff towards another island that had a tower that was barely visible.

"That's where we're headed—Renbow Island. I live on Cocona village on that island," he said. "Renbow Island boasts bountiful Pokémon—filled with nature, simple and honest folk, and the magnificent Wireless Tower on top of that mountain."

"Wow . . . that sounds awesome!" Summer said, imagining it.

"Cool!" Ben added. "Let's go, we'll see it sooner then!"

They all proceeded to run along the path to where Booker's boat was supposed to be. When they reached a ledge that had a stairway, Booker jumped and ran ahead, climbing down a few steps.

"What!" he yelled in shock, sweatdropping. "My boat's gone!"

He ran up the stairs to the waiting Rangers and said, "I must've been in such a rush that I plum forgot to tie my boat to the pier. I may be a master shipbuilder, but I'm a tad rash and tend to do things like this from time to time . . . Now I've done it. I can't get back to Renbow Island now."

"What!" Ben and Summer yelled.

"But . . . !"

"Our mission!"

"We have to finish it!"

"But how? We can't call anyone, we don't have a Staraptor here, no ride . . . it's looking hopeless!"

Then Booker had an idea and interrupted the Rangers' "fight".

"I've got it!" Booker turned to the cliff edge which had another boat on it. The Rangers looked too.

"We can just use the ship we started buildin'!"

Ben sweatdropped and asked, "_Started_!"

"No need fer the worried faces. Even if it ain't finished, I still built it! It's still safer than other people's finished boats."

"Wow, an ego to match yours," Summer commented.

"Ha, ha."

"I need a favor though. Can one of ya'll push the boat into the ocean? Usually I need 'bout five strong backs to move it, but all I got is you two. These boats are real heavy, and hard to move. But you two are Pokémon Rangers, ya'll can figure somethin' out, right?"

"Right," Ben replied. "Well, I'll be looking for another Pokémon then. Don't miss me too much, Summer!"

Summer rolled her eyes and said dryly, "Oh no, what will I do for the next two minutes?"

When Ben left, Booker was examining her a bit, then said, "Like I asked before, you sure ya'll aren't together? Looks like you two would make a good couple."

Summer blushed at the thought, and said, "And like _I_ said before, we're _just friends_."

"Seem closer than friends, if ya ask me. But that's just my opinion. Here he comes now."

Summer turned around to see Ben smiling while being followed by a Ursaring.

"Alright then, Ursaring, can you push that boat into the water?"

It obliged, and with a very loud roar, a second later, the boat was floating in the water.

"Thanks, Ursaring!" Ben said as it ran off.

"That's a Pokémon Ranger for you! Now we can go to Renbow Island!" Booker complimented.

"Yes!" Summer punched her fist in the air. "Awesome! Let's go!"

"Well then, our long voyage shall begin!" Booker stated. After seeing Ben and Summer's weird looks, Booker said, " . . . well, actually, it's over in a flash. I've just always been wantin' to say that."

Both the Rangers sweatdropped.

"Eh heh, right . . . " Ben said awkwardly. "Let's head out!"

A second before they left, a small voice cried, "Pichuuuu!"

"Pichu?" Booker asked, confused. Then everyone looked at Ukulele Pichu in shock and confusion as it jumped into the boat.

"Pichu!" it said as it jumped.

"You couldn't find your friends?" Ben asked. Pichu looked down and said, "Pichuu . . ." in disappointment.

"Seems like Pichu wants to look for its friends and leave Dolce Island."

"Well, okay then!" Summer said. "If he wants to take action and find its friends, then let it go!"

"Hm . . . " Booker said thoughtfully.

"C'mon, Booker!" Ben said. "Why not?"

"Alright, alright," Booker relented after a few seconds. "Okay, get on aboard, Pichu's gonna come with us to Renbow Island!"

"Yes! Let's get going then!" Ben said.

All three climbed aboard the ship, and set sail.

"Finally gonna start our mission," Summer commented. "For real."

"Yup," Ben said. "Wanna look out dramatically at the waters?"

Summer laughed and said, "Sure, why not?"

Oblivious to the two Rangers, Booker was watching all this, and thought to himself, _If they ain't together yet, they probably will be soon enough._

And all was nice and peaceful, with the sounds of Pichu's Ukulele and the waves.

* * *

><p><em><strong>[*] I am, of course, talking about Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia. I dunno what I prefer, Ranger games or Trainer games . . . but Guardian Signs is SO PWNAGE!<strong>_

_**Well, for being MIA for so long (almost three months now, wow), here's a SUPER long chapter. OVER 5000 WORDS! O.O SWEETNESS! THAT IS SO FUH-REAKING EPIC! One of the longest chapters I've written, and probably the longest chapter I've ever written for a fanfiction! I hope you enjoyed! Please R&R, then Ukulele Pichu will be happy!**_


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